Safety

January 15, 2019 — Safety training within the fishing industry often includes examples of fallen fishermen. For three people attending Monday’s workshop, they experienced loss first hand. They endured the loss of a family member just 13 months ago aboard the fishing vessel Misty Blue.

“He’s always in my mind, to be honest with you,” Brandon Saraiva said. “I think more training like this should be required.”

Saraiva, a fishermen for at least 12 years, lost his brother, Jonathan Saraiva, 32, when the Misty Blue, a 69-foot surf clam harvester based in New Bedford, sank Dec. 4, 2017, about 10 miles southeast of Nantucket. Jonathan’s father, Phil, also attended the workshop.

January 10, 2019 — The U.S. Coast Guard confirmed Wednesday morning that three fishermen who were on boat when it capsized Tuesday night were killed.

The Dungeness crab fishing boat, the Mary B II, capsized while crossing the Yaquina Bay bar Tuesday night in 12- to 14-foot seas, according to the U.S. Coast Guard.

The Coast Guard was able to recover one body, 48-year-old James Lacey, from South Toms River, New Jersey, with a helicopter. He was taken to Pacific Communities Hospital where he was pronounced deceased. A second body, Joshua Porter, 50, from Toledo, Oregon, washed ashore near Nye Beach.

The Mary B II eventually ran aground on the beach near the north side of the Yaquina Bay North Jetty. The boat skipper, Stephen Biernacki, 50, from Barnegat Township, New Jersey, was found deceased with the boat.

“We did everything we could. Unfortunately, it was just a tragic outcome and our hearts and thoughts are with the family and friends of the crew,” said Petty Officer Levi Reed with the U.S. Coast Guard.

January 4, 2019 — After more than 40 hours of intensive search over an area covering 2,152 nautical miles, the Coast Guard suspended its search for two Rhode Island fishermen who went missing after their vessel capsized about two-and-a-half miles southeast of Block Island.

The search began immediately after the captain of the fishing vessel Mistress, home-ported out of Pt. Judith, notified the Coast Guard at 1:30 a.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 1, that the vessel was taking on water. After the Coast Guard sent out an urgent request for assistance, a nearby fishing vessel, the Captain Bligh, was able to rescue one of the Mistress crew members, while the other two remained missing by the time the search was called off on Tuesday at 5:13 p.m.

Various news outlets have identified the two missing crew members as boat owner Oscar Diaz and his nephew John Ansay. The Captain Bligh rescued Tim Diaz, who has been identified in news reports as Oscar Diaz’s son.

The trouble began at around 1:30 a.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 1: “The captain of the fishing vessel Mistress notified watchstanders at Coast Guard Sector Southeastern New England at around 1:30 a.m. that the boat was taking on water. The watchstanders issued an urgent marine information broadcast to vessels in the area to request assistance for the crew of the Mistress. The fishing boat Captain Bligh responded and rescued one crew member from a life boat. The remaining two crew members have not been located. Low visibility and poor weather conditions hampered initial searches, but multiple crews launched as visibility improved,” the press release stated.

January 2, 2019 — The Coast Guard and a good Samaritan were searching Tuesday for two missing fishermen after their boat capsized early New Year’s Day off Block Island, Rhode Island, officials said.

The captain of the Mistress issued a mayday call at 1:30 a.m. Tuesday to say the fishing boat was taking on water near Block Island Wind Farm, which is nearly 4 miles from shore, the Coast Guard said in a statement.

November 26, 2018 — So, welcome back. We hope you had a fine Thanksgiving, whether you shared it with friends, family or that prickly tribe that inhabits North Sentinel Island out in the Andaman Sea. Though if it were the latter, it’s hard to imagine you’d be around to read this.

So, let’s open this week with some good news: Overboard deaths of commercial fishermen have declined by almost half to 204 in the period between 2000 and 2016, with credit going to better training, awareness and equipment.

According to studies by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, the decline is a product of major safety initiatives by the U.S. Coast Guard in the wake of a series of accidents that killed 10 fishermen off the East Coast in 1999.

The most dangerous fisheries for overboard deaths, however, include the East Coast (particularly the Maine lobster fishery), the Gulf of Mexico shrimp fishery and Northwest salmon gillnetters.

The studies show overboard deaths have declined 47 percent since 2000, but remain the second leading cause of death among fishermen after vessel disasters.

November 20, 2018 — Overboard deaths have declined 47 percent in the fishing industry since 2000, possibly as result of better training, awareness and equipment.

But falls overboard are still the second leading cause of death among fishermen, with solitary operators at the most risk, according to studies by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health.

“By far we see the highest numbers in the Gulf of Mexico shrimp fishery,” followed by the Maine lobster fleet and Northwest salmon gillnetters, said Samantha Case, an epidemiologist with NIOSH who summarized researchers’ findings at Sunday’s opening of the annual Pacific Marine Expo in Seattle.

A session titled “Throw Me a Rope” was the first of several PME safety seminars, where Case and NIOSH colleague Theodore Teske talked about how fishing captains can better protect themselves and their crews.

The good news is overboard falls have declined steadily since the turn of the century. That year marked a major commercial fishing safety push by the Coast Guard, after a series of accidents off the East Coast that killed 10 fishermen in early 1999.

That brought renewed pressure for safety examinations, proper equipment and safety training and drilling for crews. Anecdotally, industry culture has appeared to shift, with better equipment and preparedness evident on the boats, the NIOSH workers said.

November 14, 2018 — A Coast Guard Air Station Cape Cod helicopter crew medevaced a sick 54-year-old man from the 87-foot fishing boat Generation Sunday night 42 miles off Nantucket. The captain of the Generation contacted the Coast Guard at approximately 5:20 p.m. and requested assistance for his sick crew member.

In a press release from the United States Coast Guard, an MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter crew arrived on scene and hoisted the patient to the helicopter. The aircrew flew the man to Massachusetts General Hospital for further care.

The patient was reported to be in stable condition at the time of the transfer.

November 5, 2018 — Every fisherman deserves to come home safely at the end of a trip. The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health has been working for decades not only to track injuries in the U.S. commercial fishing fleet, but also to research and develop targeted safety solutions for specific regions and gear types in cooperation with the fishing industry. Although there has been a decrease in the number of fatalities and vessel disasters in the United States over the last few decades, even one life lost or one career ended is still too many.

This is why NIOSH’s Center for Maritime Safety and Health Studies gathered a group together to organize the fifth International Fishing Industry Safety and Health Conference (IFISH 5).

In June 2018, more than 175 occupational safety and health researchers, safety professionals, industry members and students from 24 countries gathered in St. John’s, Newfoundland, with the goal of improving safety and health in the commercial fishing industry through research, innovation, and the exchange of ideas. That’s double the size and programing of any previous IFISH conference.

One of the recurring themes throughout the conference was that fishermen, while an independent bunch, make safety a priority. They desire solutions that are relevant and practical to their work. What we’ve learned is that the best research, solutions and policies come from listening to fishermen — identify what saves them money, what makes work more efficient, and what makes sense for their specific fleet.

October 17, 2018 — The nearly finished 261-foot Alaska factory trawler North Star is currently resting on its starboard side in the waters of Saint Andrews Bay, Fla., a victim of fierce winds from Category 4 Hurricane Michael that swept through the region last week.

The trawler is under construction at Eastern Shipbuilding in Panama City for Seattle-based Glacier Fish Co. The boat was launched in April 2018 and was scheduled to be completed and make its way to Alaska next month to start netting and processing Alaska groundfish.

“The boat was nearing completion, and because of all the destruction down there we have not been able to survey the vessel,” Jim Johnson, president of Glacier Fish Co. told the Seattle Times.

Glacier Fish Co. and Eastern Shipbuilding are reportedly working together, along with insurance and salvage officials to assess the damages. No representative from either company was available to comment directly in the days following the incident

Eastern Shipbuilding Group President Joey D’Isernia relayed a message to employees on the company website: “…both shipyards have taken hurricane damage. First and foremost, please take care of your families and secure your homes. Once that is done we need to hear from you and get back to work. The cleanup effort will take all of us so we can get back to building vessels.”

October 1, 2018 — Residents of Cape Cod are demanding city officials do more to protect beachgoers following two shark attacks this year, one of which was fatal.

Hundreds of concerned locals packed into the Wellfleet Elementary School gym on Thursday for a public forum with officials and experts to discuss possible ways to keep people safe from sharks.

One by one residents tossed out a number of suggestions on how to deter sharks, including demanding officials to look into reducing the growing seal population on Cape Cod beaches. Many believe increased numbers of seals are attracting sharks hunting for food.

‘The seal population on the Cape is way of our control. They’re eating all of our fish and now they’re eating all of our children,’ said resident Gail Sluis of Brewster.

‘No sharks or seals are worth a young man’s life — they’re just not,’ she added.

According to a 2017 report by Cape Cod Times, there are 30,000 to 50,000 seals living in the waters of Southern Massachusetts, primarily on and around Cape Cod.

City officials acknowledged the seal population has grown tremendously but told locals at the forum that there are federal laws preventing the removal of seals.